Perusing several stories on Lush just now it strikes me that few contributors do much in the way of physical description of the characters. Odd - as I would have thought this is really quite essential in erotic fiction. Typically - characters are given names and everything else is left to the imagination of the reader.
Is this intentional - or is there another reason.
Looking back through my stories I do tend to summarise appearance to the best of my limited powers - citing age, body shape and features, hair colour, eyes plus the all too difficult job of summing up what the face looks like.
So do you think it is important? And if you dont describe much or not at all - why?
my thoughts.
1) a typical trope of erotic stories is the laundry list. that's where the story starts out by describing the physical attributes of the characters involved, ie: she was 5 foot 5 inches tall, weights 125 pounds, had blond hair, blue eyes, and 36D boobs.
don't do it. just don't. ever. if i catch you doing it, i will break your fucking fingers.
2) i prefer being vague so people can fill in the rest. just throw in a detail here and there, might mention in paragraph two that: her hair cascading down her back appeared almost golden in the sunlight. paragraph three might mention: i loved watching the way her small tits bounced as she danced. four might mention: i caught her watching me, an amused look in her sea green eyes.
just sorta paint a picture that fits in with the story.
3) also fine with this: he was tall and handsome looking. this way the reader gets to read a story with their dream guy, not the writers dream guy. my story might have Henry Cavil in it while someone else's might have Johnny Depp.
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of tea?
I agree with Sprite. Less is often more when it comes to providing details in fiction. Readers will fill in the gaps.
Don't believe everything that you read.
I salt the descriptions through the story, but definitely not the "laundry list". So I'll mention woman's boobs in a scene where the guy is ogling them or her eyes as he stares into them or her long, sharp fangs as they sink into his neck.
Sprite's sage advice is part of the first rule of writing... Don't tell. Show! Let the reader deduce the character's physicality indirectly, through other characters' reactions, or even through metaphor.
I find it SO hard to describe a person when the story is in first person. Once Rumpleforeskin was like 'WTF DOES THIS GIRL LOOK LIKE??' lol.
Haha, yeah. First person's a bitch. I usually fall back on that ol' find-a-mirror-or-reflective-surface trope. #lazyme
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Unless a physical characteristic is somehow essential to either the story or to a character’s motivation, I try to keep it minimal. To Sprite’s excellent third point, people will bring their own sense of who-they-want-to-see to the story. Eroticism happens between the ears, so let it!
You can also reveal a lot by describing action. Do they flit or do they stride? If a female character “skipped lightly across the rocks,” I know we’re not talking about some 6’4” Amazon lady. I tend to picture a spritely (heh,) tomboyish girl. If it was a male character, I’d picture a wiry, acrobatic guy.
And one upside to first person is that you can use physical descriptions of other characters to reveal more about your narrator.
“Writing is a socially acceptable form of getting naked in public.” -Paulo Coelho
Thanks for all the input and keep them coming - very useful.
I try hard to show and not tell.
The amount of "Laundry List" descriptions in the first few paragraphs really turn me off. I want people to imagine.
If writing in first person and you want to give some description, do it in bits but leave some to the reader's imagination.
'Her deep brown eyes exuded mystery.'
I think one of the main things is that separates good stories from bad stories is the differences in description.
I've read so many stories that begin with a cheesy description of a woman's appearance... Measurements? No story should ever list measurements!
I described a kitchen countertop as tiled in sea green, somewhere, in one of my stories. "Neighbours", I believe.
As for the advice with regards to measurements, just follow it, already. Nothing will bring my reading to a screeching halt quite as fast as the "laundry list". And sure, scour my stories--you won't find a single "laundry list" amongst them. I do have a terrible habit of describing the female protagonist as I appear in real life, so yes, that's a thing.
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